ITN’s responsive new gallery, based on software-defined monitoring and multiviewing for live news, combines Techex system design with TAG monitoring and Matrox decoding integration.
ITN Productions, factual content producer for digital platforms, brands, streamers and international broadcasters has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering daily news coverage for public broadcast across two newsrooms, ITN's new production control room (PCR) supports production teams through reduced latency and greater flexibility.
Architected and delivered by live workflow specialist Techex, the system combines TAG's Realtime Media Platform with Matrox ConvertIP decoders resulting in responsive, configurable monitoring within ITN's new Production Control Room (PCR).
John Treadwell, Senior Strategic Account Manager – Global Accounts at Techex said, "As long-time partners with TAG Video Systems, we were able to apply our experience to the design of this system using the TAG–Matrox Video integration. We worked with ITN to capture their requirements, validate the design and deliver the project. That collaboration will continue as we support ITN in evolving the system, now that it's live."
Software-defined Monitoring and Visualization
TAG's Realtime Media Platform is an all-software-based system that unifies probing, monitoring, visualization and analysis into one agile platform. Using its adaptive architecture, users can balance loads for efficiency, rapidly generate mosaics and transcode on-the-fly, all within the IP domain. Furthermore, the new PCR’s support for SMPTE ST 2110 and JPEG XS means ITN now has a scalable, adaptable monitoring set-up for live news production.
The deployment drives multi-viewer latency down to between 1 and 1.5 frames, achieved through the Matrox ConvertIP ST 2110 - HDMI interfaces driving the PCR's ten 4K multiviewer displays.
"With TAG, we've been able to realise the agility of an all-IP monitoring workflow while retaining the low latency and reliability that operators are used to in traditional galleries.," said James Wickes, Lead Media Engineer, ITN Productions. "Matrox's ConvertIP technology delivers that responsiveness on screen, and with Techex helping us bring the two together in a cohesive architecture, we've been able to prepare our gallery – and the production workflows that depend on it – for future developments and upgrades."
Consistent Frame-Accurate Synchronisation
This latency is made possible via the Matrox ConvertIP decoders translating IP signals into native HDMI outputs with deterministic (predictable) timing and no perceptible lag. Their ability to maintain consistent frame-accurate synchronisation across all ten 4K displays ensures the ‘live feel’ that operators rely on when cutting between sources.
Daniel Maloney, Technical Marketing Manager at Matrox Video, said, "The Matrox ConvertIP family was designed exactly for projects like this. Seeing ITN achieve such low-latency multiviewer performance across multiple 4K displays is a great demonstration of how tight partnerships can bring immediacy and confidence back into IP-based control rooms."
Broadcast Responsiveness
Beyond low-latency, TAG's Operator Console also allows people in the gallery to quickly adapt multiviewer screens to the current production, putting them in control of what they see. "ITN's new gallery shows how IP-native monitoring can reach full broadcast responsiveness,” noted TAG's Chief Architect Paul Briscoe.
"In a newsroom environment, the ability to deliver information immediately, while retaining the flexibility of a software-defined system, has proven to be critical. It demonstrates that a modern, all-IP control room can meet the real-time demands that live production requires. Techex's approach brought together the strengths of TAG and Matrox Video in a way that allowed ITN to focus purely on production rather than infrastructure."
With the new gallery on air, ITN says they now have the advantage of a more responsive, adaptable control environment than before that mirrors the immediacy of traditional baseband workflows while remaining entirely IP-native. The project is a clear demonstration of close working partnerships and stands as proof that low-latency, standards-based monitoring and multi-viewing can be achieved without compromise. www.techex.tv tagvs.com video.matrox.com
